What is herbal medicine?
Herbal medicine is the use of plants and minerals to treat disease patterns in pets. It can help with most any health problem, including:
- Skin disease
- Arthritis
- Diarrhea/vomiting
- Urinary tract disease
- Cancer
- Pain
- Neurologic dysfunction
All parts of the plant, including roots, flowers, leaves, seeds, berries, fruits and bark may be used in making herbal formulas. All plants have natural defense mechanisms used to fight disease that can also be useful in treating disease in animals. Herbal formulas use combinations of different plants and minerals to balance body systems.
Western Herbal Medicine
Western herbal medicine is the use of plants to treat disease, either with a single herb or in a formulation of several herbs. These remedies were used for hundreds of years by Native Americans and other cultures to treat illness before more traditional medicine became available and are still used today.
Chinese herbal medicine
Chinese herbal medicine uses formulas that have been used for thousands of years to treat disease and balance the body. These formulas may also contain mineral and animal products. Chinese Medicine looks at patterns in the body. By addressing abnormal patterns, we can help alleviate the outward symptoms that we see. Every animal is different in its constitution – individuals with similar symptoms may be treated very differently from a Chinese Medicine perspective.
Chinese medical food therapy
Foods have certain properties that can be used to treat disease, balance the body, and relieve symptoms. This can be the equivalent of feeding an herbal formula – the treatment is in the diet itself. By choosing specific ingredients based on your pets symptoms, we can have a dramatic effect on the health of the pet.
